☬-Thorn of The Rose-☬ 2x2 W/ Wolfrunner & Spiritstar3

[owl0430]

Her relief was clear on her face as she slightly squeezed Estella's hand before she sat down on Lucas's desk in order to move Estella's so her head was at least on a softer surface than the desk. Was it a bit improper, most likely, but Estella had always been there for her- so who cared about formalities right now?

"That's such a relief....that's she alive and human yet...." she spoke in a hushed tone. " But why her? And if she was supposed to be in the kitchen, why and how did she get all the way here into your study?"

[wolfrunner]

He nodded to Haruna before looking back at the faintly breathing women. Letting his hands fall from the side of her neck, “He will be here shortly no doubt. I would say that man rarely sleeps so it seems at times. And he is fairly punctual when called and clever enough to know that something must have gone wrong if we are summoning him this early with such vagueness. He will have Estella up on her feet in no time I am sure.” Yes. The Apothecary was a skilled man with many years of knowledge regarding both humans and vampires. His hands fell to come to a rest gripping onto the edge of the wooden desk in tight white knuckled grip, nails digging into the wood. It was the only outwards indication of his feelings.

“The intruder must have lured her out or else attacked her in the kitchen and brought her here afterwards to rest her here. The other maid who had been in there with her was sent out recall. Estella sent her to alert Rigel to what was going on.”, speaking out loud didn’t help any but he continued. It was all he could do to keep his head at the moment and not act on impulses and hunches. Instincts demanded action after all. If they had not with Icarus then they were most definitely doing so now.......and with good reason of course. “Normally I would say Tis no connection between this and Icarus’s death other then the intruder was injured and needed to regain strength. So he took Estella to do just that. But-“ The vampire paused as though he was trying to avoid going on, “-but the way the boy’s murderer took the time to bring her from the kitchen here..... Tis a warning....”

[owl0430]

"Adrian~ You're back so soon? How is my dearest Luke doing? Eh- Adrian?" The female twin was taken off-guard by Adrian's solemn demeanor, the lack of his typically fox-like mischiviousness.

" We haven't the time for formalities right now, Esmerelda. Where has Orion run off to?"

" Orion? Last I knew he was off running about town trying to find a 'pretty little morsel' he said. He didn't give me an exact location- typical of him, really."\

Adrian scoffed before taking hold of the arm Esmerelda had stretched out towards him. "Then let us find him. Now."

It took a little bit of time, but he managed to track the other male down. But not in the way he wanted to. For as he wandering about the town, he caught a wiff of Icarus's blood on the wind- in a direction opposite that of the estate.

"Orion." his tone was stern and furious as he approached Orion, who was casually sitting atop a rock without a care in the world. Coated in Icarus's blood.

" Oh, you are back already? Well, I thought you might...ah, well. Did you enjoy my present to you? A little 'welcome-back' if you will." His tone was as nonchalant as the rest of him, and within seconds, Adrian had his hand around Orion, his free hand digging his claws into his cheast- just over where Orion's heart was.

"What the hell did you do." He knew exactly what the male Rosenwald did, of course. But he wanted to hear it for himself.

"Do not tell me you are genuinely that upset about? He was just a halfling you know, it wasn't like he was a pureblood like me and Esme. He discovered the secret, who the progenitor is. We can't be having that now can we, Adrian-Gah?!" Adrian's claws slashed across his chest, every-so-slightly damaging his heart. It wasn't enough to kill him, but even with blood it would take time to heal.

nd yet, once he got over the shock, he actually laughed a bit. [color=#80BFFF]"That is all? Wow, the way you were acting I thought you were actually going to kill me!"

"It is in your best interest that you shut your yap, Orion. Otherwise I may actually yet do so." he hissed, grabbing the collar of Orion's shirt.

"You will be confined to your chambers indefinitely, and you will only partake of the limited meals that will be brought to you. Whenever it is I so choose to release you back into the world, if you dare set even a finger out of line, I will not be so merciful."

As they slipped into the shadows, Orion did naught but smile. Sure, the punishment wasn't fun- but if it kept things going according to Adrian's plan, then it was worth it.

[owl0430]

" Well that's just great isn't it? We just get back and someone wanted to leave you one hell of a warning." she huffed, wrapping her arms protectively around her lady-in-waiting. None of this was adding up. Why was Icarus killed when he'd done nothing wrong? Why so cruelly? Why was Estella attacked and placed her? Was the choice of it being Esmerelda coincidental, or intentional?

She wished she could read Lucas's mind right now. Perhaps he knew something she didn't, or had an idea of what the missing piece of the puzzle was. He was thinking someone for sure, based on how tightly he was gripping the edge of the desk. " I apologize, I know I am asking many questions- but would you or Rigel happen to know what kind of warning this is supposed to be?"

[Spiritstar3]

Haruna- 18- male- Embere Heir- homosexual; Rigel is crush- Ai and Nina- kitten Dream- manor- Tags: Akira, Ai and Nina, Lucas

The dark haired boy nodded to him, and smiled a bit. Only a tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless, and something he needed right now. "He was very good to me, when I had that cold and such. I'm sure he'll make haste," he said. He then fell silent after a bit. He let Akira do the talking now, but wondered who the intruder was. Why would they feel the need to leave a warning? Was it someone the brothers might actually know?

Ai- f- 4 y- July 12- human- bi when old enough; no crush- sister Nina- wants a pet- Tags: Nina, Akira, Haruna, Lucas

The reddish brown haired little one was still being held. She coughed a bit, shaking her head but not lifting it. She sucked in a shuddering breath, then spoke. "Nina," was all she muttered, though Nina couldn't really get to her.

[wolfrunner]

"It's a warning specifically meant for me.", said Lucas staring off at something only he could see. "And no. You have every right to ask questions, especially considering that Estella was not selected by chance as the fact she was either brought or lured here from another location is enough proof of that.", a dark tone had slipped into his voice as he refused too look up at the blonde. His nails seeming too actually dig deeper into the desk's edge threatening to rip a chunk from the fine wood. Not that he cared. Had the blonde and lady in waiting not been presently perched on the desk at that moment he would have more thenikely totally demolished it to a pile of splinters rather then just maybe rip a chunk off.

"Remember what I said of the Progenitor, the very first of vampire kind?" The last part was added more for Haruna's benefit. "I admit there was more to taking a trip to Vretellas then enjoying the festival. The bussiness Adrian and I had there was we had managed to track a Thorn there with Icarus's help and went to ask him about the Progenitor. Thorns are rare and even that is putting it lightly. They are Purebloods. Purebloods whom the Progenitor changed himself....the very first of my kind right after him and the founders of the Founding Families. My grandfather is one but he, like the others, scattered to an unknown location eons ago and there have been no new reports of new Thorns in I am not sure how long. According to Axel there are less then a handful that even he knows anything about who are not hidden away or currently sleeping. While we were gone Icarus had moved on to trying to figure out the identity of the Progenitor and clever child found it in the end."

It was then someone cleared their throat.

Rigel walked in messing with both girl's hair and resting an arm on Haruna's shoulder, casually leaning on it a bit. "Reporting in General.", he gave his brother a salute, "Did as ordered and shred the news we were to be having visitors so preparations for a ton of guests is being made as we speak. Picked up Estella's scent pretty quickly and decided to keep everyone away from this hall for now. Looks like you upset someone but the kid had to have done some decent damage ...some kid." After a breath, "You really should learn to not get on people's bad sides Brother."

[Spiritstar3]

Haruna- 18- male- Embere Heir- homosexual; Rigel is crush- Ai and Nina- kitten Dream- manor- Tags: Akira, Ai and Nina, Lucas

The dark haired boy swallowed a bit, shaking his head. He then thought on what was said of...really everything. He didn't think he knew Adrian; maybe he'd seen him in passing. Was he one of the people that had been in the garden? He couldn't even recall how long ago that had been. He then continued to think on things.

Progenitors...the very first vampire, or vampires plural. Seemed Lucas and Adrian had some business with that. Thorns...rare, purebloods, changed by the Progenitor. He glanced to Lucas, nodding to him but still silent yet. He tilted his head as someone named Axel was mentioned. He swallowed as Icarus was mentioned again... "Was he...k, killed for trying to find out who the Progenitor is? Or because he actually did find out?" he asked.

He very nearly jumped at the clearing of a throat. The dark haired one then squeaked and blushed at the touch and casual lean. He shook his head a couple more times for good measure. Though it did nothing to cool his cheeks. He then tilted his head. He was going to ask who was upset, but it had to be someone to do with the Progenitor.

Ai- f- 4 y- July 12- human- bi when old enough; no crush- sister Nina- wants a pet- Tags: Nina, Akira, Haruna, Lucas

The reddish brown haired little one squealed and looked up. "Rigel!" she cried, and held her arms out to him. Not that she really thought he'd take and hold her...She'd never really wanted to be picked up by him before. Still, she wanted to now, as emotional as she was. Once she was back to normal, she probably wouldn't do so again, but who knew.

[wolfrunner]

Rigel looked over at the girls and gave a half hearted grin. Moving away from Haruna, the blonde pureblood walked over to them instead and swift scooped up little Ai in his arms. "Gotcha.", he said while adjusting the small human in his arms so he could hold her comfortably on a hip. When he did this there was a tug on his coat which drew his attention down to the second little girl but stopped. He was going to wrap an arm around her too keep her close, yet found her moving over to Haruna.

"Since he discovered the Progenitor's identity I twould say that would be the reasoning behind both his death and the warning here. Someone is risking quite a lot trying to keep his identity a secret. Reckless. I would say desperate maybe but I am thinking perhaps overkill suits this better. This vampire is either very dedicated to the Progenitor or-" Lucas could not bring himself to finish the sentence, least not in front of the human children. They had probably been frightened enough by now if the way the one Rigel took in his arms was anything to base his thoughts on. The dark haired male did not wish to frighten either of the young ones more by continuing to say what he was thinking outloud, for it was far from something favorable. "Akira will be moving into my quarters. Haruna can move into Rigel's and we can bring in extra mattresses for the children as I assume they will prefer staying with you two."

"Doable. Our rooms are large enough and on the same floor. If we should ensure a head count of every staff member every morning to be sure no one is missing, if someone does go missing we should be able to quickly track them down this way."

[Spiritstar3]

Haruna- Haru- 18- male- Embere Heir- homosexual; Rigel is crush- Ai and Nina- kitten Dream- manor- Tags: Akira, Ai and Nina, Lucas, Rigel

The dark haired boy hummed quietly, letting Rigel take the girl. He looked down at Nina, smiling and saying "Hello." He didn't know if she'd appreciate being picked up. Therefore, he just held out his hands. Though he wasn't sure she'd like that either. Still, he did so just in case, while still listening to the others. He felt his cheeks heat up; sh...sharing a room, with Rigel? However, then the girls were mentioned and he relaxed a bit. The kitten he was still holding Mrred. He giggled quietly at her, and kissed the top of her head.

Aiya- Ai- f- 4 y- July 12- human- bi when old enough; no crush- sister Nina- wants a pet- Tags: Nina, Akira, Haruna, Lucas, Rigel

The reddish brown haired little one hummed and giggled. So it seemed he didn't mind, and this seemed to make her happy. She watched her twin go over to the human heir. She then tilted her head, looking at the others. "We're sharing rooms?" she asked. "Like family!" she said, though clearly didn't mean her parents...Perhaps the vampire had them in his room when they first arrived. After all, the older vampire they'd been given to was kind. He'd almost acted like they were his daughters. That or treating them more like granddaughters. Now, here they were with more vampires, but also humans.

[owl0430]

So that was the true purpose of their journey to Vretellas- the 'business' he and Adrian had to take care of while they were there. And while they were gone, little Icarus had been trying to learn of the progenitor's identity. He succeeded in doing so, but the moment he did, he was killed. Presumably by, as Lucas stated, someone completely and utterly loyal to the progenitor- or something else he didn't mentioned. Granted she could take her guess as to why- the children. It was unwise to continue such conversations in their presence.

Nonetheless, something else he said caught her attention- they- they were to now, until the killer was caught she presumed, share their quarters? She supposed there were safety benefits to the arrangement- and technically they were wed, but still- besides, who was going to look after Estella then? If anything further happened to the lady-in-waiting...

"Though I hate to admit it, I agree with Rigel on this one- in regards to performing a headcount of the staff each morning. "

A part of her wanted to take his hand, or put her's on his shoulder, but she wasn't sure about the gesture- considering Rigel was there.
At the same time, the way his nails were digging into his desk probably wasn't helping the girls either with whatever fright they may have been feeling at the moment. Therefore, she did indeed place a hand on his shoulder in the end. " You know, there was a rather lovely dessert Estella had me try not to long after I got here. Perhaps the two little ones would enjoy it as well."